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Louisville residents will rebuild, move on

Triplett's mother, Dora Triplett, was killed during the April 28 tornado that claimed 10 lives in the small town of Louisville. She and grandson De'Angelo were in the bathtub, and she was covering him with her body.

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Louisville residents will rebuild, move on

Therese Apel, The Clarion-Ledger 9:31 p.m. CDT June 6, 2014

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A star placed on a post outside the flattened rubble of Ruth's Daycare in Louisville remembers owner Ruth Bennett who was killed protecting 4-year-old Ashtyn Rose Mitchell during the April 28 tornado that ripped through Winston County. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Toys and chairs are piled outside the flattened rubble of Ruth's Daycare in Louisville a month after owner Ruth Bennett was killed protecting 4-year-old Ashtyn Rose Mitchell during the April 28 tornado that ripped through Winston County. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A brick outline and scattered rubble are all that remain to indicate where Ruth's Daycare in Louisville once stood one month after owner Ruth Bennett was killed protecting 4-year-old Ashtyn Rose Mitchell during the April 28 tornado that ripped through Winston County. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A house next door to Ruth's Daycare in Louisville was equiped with a backyard storm shelter. It's unclear if anyone took cover in the shelter during the April 28 tornado that ripped through the area, destroying the daycare and claiming the life of owner Ruth Bennett as she protected a child from the storm's wrath. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A house next door to Ruth's Daycare in Louisville was equiped with a backyard storm shelter. It's unclear if anyone took cover in the shelter during the April 28 tornado that ripped through the area, destroying the daycare and claiming the life of owner Ruth Bennett as she protected a child from the storm's wrath. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A Bible, cross and water bottle rest atop a storm shelter located behind a house on East Main Street in Louisville on Sunday, a month after a tornado cut a swath through Winston County. It's unclear if anyone took cover in the shelter during the April 28 tornado. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A house next door to Ruth's Daycare in Louisville was equiped with a backyard storm shelter. It's unclear if anyone took cover in the shelter during the April 28 tornado that ripped through the area, destroying the daycare and claiming the life of owner Ruth Bennett as she protected a child from the storm's wrath. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Buddy King, director of the Winston County Emergency Management Agency, talks about how recovery efforts have evolved in the month since the area was hit by a powerful tornado. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Motorists, background, driving along East Main Street in Louisville on Sunday pass remnants of the destruction that remain a month after the April 28 tornady. ackground, pass remnants of t Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Buddy King, director of the Winston County Emergency Management Agency, talks about how recovery efforts have evolved in the month since the area was hit by a powerful tornado. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A month after Louisville was slammed by a powerful tornado, crews clear storm debris along East Main Street in front of the home of Jay and Penny Bowman. The couple and their dog Max survived the storm unharmed as they huddled in a bedroom closet, but their home is a total loss. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

A month after Louisville was slammed by a powerful tornado, crews clear storm debris along East Main Street in front of the home of Jay and Penny Bowman. The couple and their dog Max survived the storm unharmed as they huddled in a bedroom closet, but their home is a total loss. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Kenny Thompson with Dickerson Dirt and Dozer in Louisville clears remnants of a line of trees that were blown down between two houses on East Main Street in Louisville by a tornado that carved a path through Winston County on April 28. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Hargie Hughes recollects ducking for cover on the floor of his home at the end of Eiland Avenue in Louisville during the April 28 tornado. Hughes survived unharmed, but most of the houses on his street were leveled. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Hargie Hughes recollects ducking for cover on the floor of his home at the end of Eiland Avenue in Louisville during the April 28 tornado. Hughes survived unharmed, but most of the houses on his street were leveled. With Hughes is friend and neighbor Stevie Haynes. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Bobby Triplett returned to the rubble of home on Eiland Avenue in Louisville where his mother, Dora Triplett, died protecting his 12 year-old son, De'Angelo from the April 28 tornado. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Much of the Eiland Plaza apartment complex in Louisville was reduced to splintered wood and piles of brick and other debris by the April 28 tornado. The storm claimed two lives and caused several injuries in this complex alone. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

Two motorcyclists riding along Armstrong Street in Louisville survey the scene of destruction south toward the Eiland Plaza apartment co mplex and the Eiland Avenue neighborhood that was devistated by the April 28 tornado. Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger

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A month after Louisville was slammed by a powerful tornado, crews clear storm debris along East Main Street in front of the home of Jay and Penny Bowman. The couple and their dog Max survived the storm unharmed as they huddled in a bedroom closet, but their home is a total loss.(Photo: Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger)

A little over a month after his mother died protecting his son, Bobby Triplett could be found where her house used to stand, loading bits and pieces onto a trailer and planning to rebuild.

Triplett's mother, Dora Triplett, was killed in the April 28 tornado that claimed 10 lives in the small town of Louisville. She and grandson De'Angelo were in the bathtub, and she was covering him with her body.

"It's kinda hard because it's just hard to explain death at times. Everybody takes things differently," Triplett said as he looked at the slab where his mother's home once was. "She was in there with him; she was over him; she protected him. She always has believed in protecting her kids and grandkids."

Bobby Triplett said he took De'Angelo out of town for a while a few weeks ago just to start to clear some of the horror of that day out of his head.

"The truck, when the house caved in, there was a car on the back side and this truck was sitting in the driveway, but where it ended up, the truck was in the house," Triplett said. "My mom, she saved my son's life. He's doing pretty good so far, but we're going to get him some community counseling because he'll need it in time, so we're going to get him started now."

But the house will be rebuilt, Triplett said. Triplett and a man who was helping him clear the debris hung an American flag they found in the rubble from a utility pole that was still standing.

"It's going to take time. Within a month of the storm, there are very few houses on this road that people can repair and move in. You've got a few up on the other end of the road, but from here back, there are no houses left. No churches, no community buildings, nothing on this side of town," he said. "Right now, a month later, we're just slowly trying to pull things together, but we're going to rebuild."

Just down the road, Hargie Hughes, 76, and Stevie Haynes, 43, sat under Hughes' carport in the heat. Hughes' home is the only one left on Eiland Avenue with power and one of the only ones standing without crippling damage. After a transformer exploded in the yard, Hughes was told he shouldn't stay there because of possible hazardous material in the area. He's staying with his oldest son. Haynes is staying with a sister.

But that's still home. Hughes has lived in that house for 43 years and remembers when it was built.

"I'm just here to sit around," he said with a smile. "I hope they let me come back."

"I look back at what God put us through, and my house is the strongest house out here. All the rest of these the wires were jerked down," he said. "When they came and looked, they said mine weren't damaged, they could give me light. They said, 'You're mighty calm.' I said, 'What God does, I'm happy with it, because can't no man challenge it.' We have to accept what he sends to us. That's the way I feel about it."

Haynes' house is gone. There's a slab there but almost no trace of the house that used to stand on top of it. That's OK, Haynes said, he'll rebuild.

"We're coming back here. People are asking me, 'What if it comes back again,' and I say, 'You can't run from these things.' It might hit the next place. You never know," he said. "I believe if the Lord would have wanted us, he could have got us. But he spared us."

Penny and James Bowman suffered extensive damage to their home as well, as did their neighbors, Dennis and Vicki Duty. They watched as heavy equipment moved trees and debris away from their homes recently.

The Bowmans rode the tornado out in a closet. Penny's late father's home and her sister's house, both nearby, were also destroyed. Of the 20 or so trees uprooted around their home, about a half dozen hit the house, Penny said.

"I didn't hear the train sound. I was too busy praying," Penny Bowman said. "It was over in a matter of seconds."

Dennis Duty, scheduled for major heart surgery not too long after that fateful day, was driving back into town when he came face to face with the tornado.

"I looked up in the air and it had to be probably 150 to 200 feet in the air. It was a mature — roots and everything — pecan tree, and it landed in the road about 300 feet in front of my truck. At that point I thought it was about time for me to turn around," he said.

His home was hit hard, just like the Bowmans'. Duty said he had just put about $60,000 into remodeling the house.

"We'll just rebuild, you know. You've got to play the hand you're dealt. We didn't get it near as bad as a lot of people did, and I'm thankful for that. All you can do is take it in stride and do the best you can," he said. "We've got good neighbors. This is a real tight-knit community, and everyone's helping everyone. It's a blow to the entire city, but it has really pulled everyone together."

Duty, a longtime career firefighter, said he's seen people really lay their lives on the line for each other in the aftermath of the tornado, starting the night it hit.

"People threw caution to the wind. If people were in trouble, they were going to do whatever they had to do to help them," he said. "That's what I saw an hour after the tornado hit. People had no regard for their own safety. They were helping other people. That's something to see."

That helpful spirit has carried quite a way, said Emergency Operations Center Director Buddy King. But there's still work to be done. The amount of debris left from the storm has made cleanup a daunting task, especially since government workers can only pick up debris that is stacked in the right-of-way. They are forbidden from going on private property.

Therefore, volunteer help is needed now more than ever.

"At this point, we've lost the unaffiliated volunteers, and we've got a lot of faith-based groups coming in now and we're trying to maximize them in our area," he said. "We'd love to be able to go out and help folks because there are some folks that desperately need that assistance."

Recovery will be a long process, but the leadership of Mayor Will Hill and support from the governor's office has given the residents of Louisville hope, King said.

"We'll never be the same, back to where we were, but there will be a day that we break over the top of the hill and we're dealing with more building projects than recovery projects," he said. "I anticipate that day within the next four to six months."